it was one of the only two species which he saw on a brief visit to 
Canada. With few reservations—at least in the Old World—# may 
be described as “Alpine and boreal,” and I think most of the European 
collections are supplied from Scotland, Finland and the Swiss Alps. 
I believe Mr. Leech only obtained one specimen from Japan (Oiwake, 
ex. coll. Pryer), and I fancy it was reported as either a novelty or great 
rarity for Hungary at a quite recent date (Pavel, Term. P'i'tz., xx., 
p. 75, 1897). The only specimen which Dr. Chapman has brought 
me from his Continental travels is one from Trondhjera in Norway. 
Herr August Hoffmann, to whose life-history of the species I have 
already several times made reference, found it in the Upper ITartz 
wherever its food-plant was common, and gives some notes on its 
habits there. The Discoloxia branch is mainly Indian, and evidently 
has its headquarters in Tibet. 
Variation.— There is an appreciable sexual dimorphism in Vmusia 
cambrka, the females being generally larger and paler than the males. 
I have not been able to discover any true geographical variation. 
Three even of the North American specimens at the British Museum 
are so like our British ones that I could not pick them out if they were 
mixed up therewith. The Oiwake specimen, already mentioned, is 
somewhat wasted ; it is a tolerably large ? , perhaps slightly paler 
than ordinary (? ab. erutaria, Bdv.), but showing no signs of being a 
“ var.” The Finland specimens seem inclined to run small on an 
average—though by no means always—and one small aberration, ab. 
pygmaea, Tgstr., is possibly recurrent there. But—as with so many 
other species—our own country has the proud distinction of possessing 
the only really noteworthy recurrent aberration, and this is the 
melanic Yorkshire form*—I might here again add, “ as with so many 
other species,” both as regards the nature of the variation and also the 
county producing it. I cannot find much in our literature concerning 
this interesting form; in fact, I can only lay my hands on Mr, 
Brady’s note (Pint. Bee., xiv., p. 305), where he says that in the 
Sheffield district 90 per cent, are melanic, and that nearer Doncaster, 
in 1902, about 50 per cent, were so ; and Mr. Barrett’s reference and 
figures (Pep. Brit., viii., p. 198, pi. 819, fig. 1 b and 1 <•). Mr. Barrett 
says of it that “ in South Yorkshire a local recurrent form seems to 
have quite recently made its appearance, and he gives (tom. at., p. 195) 
“ the Sheffield and Rotherham district” as its habitat. It has two 
principal phases, as is usual with these melanic Geometrids:—1st, 
ground-colour mostly infuscated, but with variable intensity, the 
markings, therefore, still traceable (Barrett, fig. lc) ; 2nd, ground¬ 
colour wholly infuscated, leaving practically no markings—absolutely 
none on hind wings (Barrett, fig. lb). My two examples, kindly given 
me by Mr. Brady, belong to this latter. I do not think either has yet 
been named. Staudinger (Cat., 3 e. Aufl., 1901) gives absolutely no 
named forms under the species, though it is curious that he should 
* It whs not till seme months after this paper was written, and, indeed, not 
long before going to press, that I made acquaintance with a second dark form, 
noted by Porritt (Naturalist, 1904, p. 377) as the “ Middlesbrough ” form, and 
added to my collection by the kindness of Mr. T. Ashton Loftbouse. I add a 
desciiption of it to my summary of the variation (infra). It is recorded somewhat 
loosely by Mr. S. Walker as the black aberration of Veausia cambricaria (Ent. 
Rec., xvi., p. 302). 
